From the U.S. Government Accountability Office, www.gao.gov
Transcript for: Gender-Related Price Differences
Description: Ever wonder if some items, like shaving materials or
deodorants, cost different for men and women? Well, GAO investigated.
Listen to what we found.
Related GAO Work: GAO-18-500, Consumer Protection: Gender-Related Price
Differences for Goods and Services
Released: August 2018
[ Background Music ]
[ Alicia Puente Cackley ] We did find statistically-significant price
differences related to gender for most of the ten product categories
that we analyzed.
[ Matt Oldham: ] Welcome to GAO's Watchdog Report, your source for news
and information from the U.S. Government Accountability Office. I'm Matt
Oldham. Whether or not you've heard of the term "pink tax," you may be
aware that women and men could be seeing different prices for similar
goods and services. I'm with Alicia Puente Cackley. She's a director on
the Financial Markets and Community Investment team. And we're talking
about a GAO report which reviewed gender-related price differences.
Thank you for taking the time to speak with me, Alicia.
[ Alicia Puente Cackley ] You're welcome.
[ Matt Oldham: ] So did your report find many products showing these
price differences?
[ Alicia Puente Cackley ] So our report focused on an analysis of retail
prices for a set of personal care products, so things like deodorants,
shaving products, fragrances, razors, razor blades. And we did find
statistically significant price differences related to gender for most
of the 10 product categories that we analyzed. We found about half of
the categories, women's products, were sold at higher prices, on
average, than men's products. For a couple of products, shaving gels and
non-disposable razors, we found men's products were more expensive, on
average. And then for a couple of products, we didn't see a significant
difference.
[ Matt Oldham: ] So did you find any reasons for the price differences?
[ Alicia Puente Cackley ] Well, we had controlled for as much as we
could in terms of what might affect the price of the products that we
looked at. We accounted for as many factors as possible, like size of
the products and the scent and the color. But there were things that we
couldn't account for. There were things like advertising costs of each
product and also things like different demands by men and women for
specific products or people's willingness to pay for a product. So if we
couldn't account for everything, we can't say for sure how much of the
price difference that we found is due to potential gender bias and how
much is due to those other factors that we couldn't control for.
[ Matt Oldham: ] So, so far we've been talking about the products that
show some price differences due to gender, but your report also explored
services like mortgages or small business credit. Could you talk a
little bit about what you found there?
[ Alicia Puente Cackley ] So we looked at a number of studies that
compared things like interest rates and prices that men and women pay
for products or services that are not targeted by gender. So they had
some important limitations in terms of, the studies were often older
than we would like to have and be able to draw conclusions from. So
studies on mortgage interest rates were based on loans that were more
than 10 years old, which makes it a little hard to draw strong
conclusions. But we did find amongst those studies that there was mixed
evidence of disparities in borrowing costs between men and women. And in
terms of small businesses, we also found while the data were not as
recent as we would have liked, those studies saw mixed evidence of
gender disparities in access to credit, so whether or not they actually
got a loan. Not so much the interest rate but the access to the credit
in the first place.
[ Matt Oldham: ] So what can consumers do to avoid some of these price
variations we've been talking about?
[ Alicia Puente Cackley ] Well, it's important for consumers to just
first recognize that there can be differences in price and that they're
often related to the targeted way that certain products are created and
marketed. And so once you're aware of that, you can comparison shop. You
can decide for yourself whether you want the product that is potentially
higher in price but more to your liking or you can look at the product
that is marketed more to another gender and say that's just as good and
it's cheaper, that's for me.
[ Background Music ]
[ Matt Oldham: ] So it sounds like it's possible that consumers could be
getting charged more for some products and services based on their
gender. So Alicia, I've got a confession. I'm a man who uses shaving
cream marketed toward women, and the reasons have nothing to do with
cost. But are you saying that I could be paying more than if I used
men's shaving cream?
[ Alicia Puente Cackley ] Absolutely. It is definitely the case that we
found, on average, women's shaving cream costs more compared to men's.
Now that may not be true for the particular product that you use, but on
average, that was one of the results of our analysis.
[ Matt Oldham: ] Alicia, lastly, what do you believe is the bottom line
of your report?
[ Alicia Puente Cackley ] I think the bottom line is really that for
folks to understand that firms, you know, they're allowed to tailor
their products to different genders and price them accordingly. And so
if you're one of the people who has a preference for a particular
product, but you also want to know that you're paying the lowest price
possible, do your comparison shopping and check out both versions and
see which one works for you.
[ Matt Oldham: ] Alicia Puente Cackley is a GAO director on the
Financial Markets and Community Investment team, and she was talking
about a report looking into gender-based price differences. Thank you
for your time, Alicia.
[ Alicia Puente Cackley ] You're welcome.
[ Background Music ]
[ Matt Oldham: ] And thank you for listening to the Watchdog Report. To
hear more podcasts, subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts.
[ Background Music ]
[ Matt Oldham: ] For more from the congressional watchdog, the U.S.
Government Accountability Office, visit us at gao.gov.